Falling for Movie Week: Two 'Strictly Come Dancing' stars take a tumble

Movie Week at Strictly Come Dancing was full of thrills and spills as two of its stars suffered embarrassing falls.

Judge Bruno Tonioli was the first person to end up on the floor, as yet again he fell off his chair whilst emphatically disagreeing with comments from co-star Craig Revel Horwood.

Bruno looked uncharacteristically embarrassed, but he needn’t have worried as he was overshadowed by Kate Silverton stumbling on the stairs right at the beginning of a seductive number.

We saw some incredibly high scores with Faye Tozer scoring four nines and Ashley Roberts clocking up three, although Lee Ryan seemed the victim of some harsh judging as he didn’t deserve to be bottom of the table.

Credit to the pros, they’re offering us some magical group dances this year, and we loved the Harry Potter theme – the Quidditch match, the Hogwarts Express, and he realisation that Kevin Clifton would have made the perfect Harry Potter.

Martine McCutcheon was the celeb paying a visit to presenter Claudia Winkleman to read out this week’s terms and conditions.

Movie Week is our second-favourite theme of the series (Halloween, obvs), where the contestants get the chance for some serious fancy dress.

The judges were suitably attired for a red carpet, but we were more interested in seeing the contestants make their entrance in costume – Minions, Spider-Man, Jessica Rabbit…bring on Movie Week!

Vick Hope and Graziano Di Prima

Dance and film: Mamma Mia! – Salsa to Take a Chance On Me by Abba

What we thought: Go on Vick! We knew she’d manage to smash it eventually, and this was her week.

She also totally got in first ahead of Ashley Roberts doing a Dirty Dancing theme by perfecting that famous lift (apparently called a bluebird).

What the judges thought: Bruno Tonioli said: “How can I resist you! It really was a feelgood Salsa inspired by the ultimate feelgood movie.”

Darcey Bussell said: “That lift into that bluebird, the line of it, the dismount…very nice.”

Score: 27

Dr Ranj and Janette Manrara

Dance and film: Aladdin – Quickstep to Prince Ali

What we thought: Look, we love Dr Ranj and basically feel he can do no wrong, but it looked as though he was seriously struggling with the Quickstep.

For us, it never really got going and looked more like a rehearsal.

What the judges thought: Bruno said: “Off you went on your magic carpet. You encountered a little bit of turbulence from time to time and stalled a little.”

Shirley Ballas said: “Anything out of hold, you are absolute pure magic. So any of the ballroom dances, you have to get comfortable with being in frame.”

Score: 20

Lee Ryan and Nadiya Bychkova

Dance and film: Back to the Future – Cha Cha Cha to The Power of Love by Huey Lewis and the News

What we thought: We’re feeling quite sorry for Lee – not over the squeezed-out tears about his dance off last week, but because we counted FOUR layers of clothes on him whilst he leaped about under those studio lights.

Bad luck to Nadiya too, who had to pull off the bizarre costume of a female, scantily-clad Doc.

What the judges thought: Craig Revel Horwood said: “I couldn’t see much Cha Cha, for me it was just a lot of mincing around.”

Bruno said: “It wasn’t a blockbuster, but it wasn’t a flop either.”

Score: 19

Kate Silverton and Aljaz Skorjanec

Dance and film: Who Framed Roger Rabbit? – Foxtrot to Why Don’t You Do Right

What we thought: Argh, Kate! It happens to at least one person every series, but this time Kate is the first to nearly stack it.

She made a sultry entrance to the dancefloor as Jessica Rabbit, but unfortunately got her heel stuck and nearly fell down the stairs at a key moment.

Kate recovered well, but obviously it overshadowed the whole thing.

What the judges thought: Craig said: “I thought it was very sultry, very sexy, very seductive. There was a lot to like.”

Bruno said: “Stun-a-rama. I am gobsmacked. How does it feel to be bad? It feels good, doesn’t it?”

Score: 29

Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton

Dance and film: Despicable Me 2 – Jive to Happy by Pharrell Williams

What we thought: Stacey’s totally back on form this week. She and Kevin are the only couple who could pull off being Minions.

She just has boundless energy, which makes something like the Jive perfect for her.

What the judges thought: Shirley said: “My goodness that puts you in a happy place, that is a major breakthrough for you.”

Darcey said: “You have this wondergul carefree action. What can I say? I loved it.”

Score: 32

Joe Suggs and Dianne Buswell

Dance and film: High School Musical – American Smooth to Breaking Free

What we thought: As dangerous as it is to anger Joe’s hordes of fans, we’re just not sure we quite get the fuss about his dancing.

It looked a little messy tonight, and as though he had to stoop at points to get level with Dianne.

What the judges thought: Craig said: “Your posture definitely lets you down and what little there is of your bottom really sticks out, so you need to tuck that under, baby.”

Shirley said: “You never cease to amaze us. With your willowy figure and your long neck, you have the potential to be a real winner in the ballroom field.”

Score: 26

Graeme Swann and Oti Mabuse

Dance and film: Spider-Man – Charleston to Spider-Man theme

What we thought: To be honest, when Graeme was announced as a contestant we kind of expected him to be the boring one.

We’re happy to hold our hands up and say we were completely wrong – he’s one of the most entertaining contestants, and the person we look forward to seeing every week.

What the judges thought: Craig said: “Welcome back to the competition.”

Darcey said: “That was a super comeback, and you look good in an all-in-one.”

Score: 31

Ashley Roberts and Pasha Kovalev

Dance and film: Dirty Dancing – Salsa to (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes

What we thought: Well, it was faultless, obviously, and she nailed that lift.

But much as we like Ashley, come on – there’s “having dance experience”, and then there’s “dancer” actually being your profession.

What the judges thought: Darcey said: “Everything was clean, you ticked all the boxes for me, thank you.”

Shirley said: “I’m a huge Dirty Dancing fan and I think you did that number absolute justice today.”

Craig said: “I tried that lift also, in Austria, and ended up with a hernia.”

Score: 35

Katie Piper and Gorka Marquez

Dance and film: La La Land – Foxtrot to City of Stars

What we thought: Katie has obviously worked hard this week and has improved a lot.

However, there are so many brilliant dancers already this year that unfortunately it’ll probably get lost in the many other more memorable performances.

What the judges thought: Shirley said: “I want to give you my own standing ovation for how much you improved.”

Bruno said: “You had a wonderful dreamy quality and you seemed to relax more.”

Score: 22

Seann Walsh and Katya Jones

Dance and film: The Matrix – Paso Doble to The Matrix theme

What we thought: Oh my goodness, Seann was amazing!

We never expected that after last week’s debacle, but he actually managed a serious dance really well, despite the creepy outfit and potential for flying to go horribly wrong.

What the judges thought: Craig said: “Profound, powerful, impassioned, strong, masculine, I might even go so far as to say hot.”

Shirley said: “You aren’t messing about Seann. You are the dark horse. This week, you’ve nailed it.”

Score: 30

Lauren Steadman and AJ Pritchard

Dance and film: Fame – Cha Cha Cha to Fame theme tune

What we thought: Lauren’s pretty good and in previous series, she would have been up there at the top, but it’s such a strong year and the less-well-known contestants are getting a bit lost.

She did a great job, but was let down a little by AJ being so ridiculously clean-cut that it was difficult for them to sell the Cha Cha Cha.

What the judges thought: Craig said: “The same as last week, it’s a bit lacklustre. You need to think of over dancing, it’s just not kicking in.

Darcey said: “I can sense you’re having a little problem in flirting with your man.”

Score: 20

Charles Venn and Karen Clifton

Dance and film: An Officer and a Gentleman – American Smooth to Up Where We Belong by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes

What we thought: Putting the “smooth” in American Smooth, Charles was one of the highlights of tonight’s show for us, if not for the judges.

It was graceful, beautiful, and really felt “Hollywood” in a way that many of the others haven’t.

What the judges thought: Bruno said: “You make a very, very convincing leading man with a strong presence and light touch. Nothing is ever forced with you.”

Craig said: “I felt you were fighting one another a little bit. It’s about a partnership and I feel it’s not coming together or gelling yet.”

Score: 25

Faye Tozer and Giovanni Pernice

Dance and film: Grease – Quickstep to You’re the One that I Want by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John

What we thought: Not even Giovanni’s hilariously high-pitched exclamation “Faye!” at the start could detract from how utterly brilliant that Quickstep was.

The woman is just unbelievably good, and so deserves to be in this year’s final.

What the judges thought: Shirley said: “One of the best Quicksteps I think I’ve ever seen on Strictly.”

Craig said: “Three words. Fab-u-lous.”

Score: 36

Danny John-Jules and Amy Dowden

Dance and film: The Greatest Showman – Paso Doble to The Greatest Show

What we thought: Danny is quietly creeping up the outside of the competition as other contestants are making much more noise about their performances.

He’s so precise, so flexible, and we reckon in with a chance of winning it.

What the judges thought: Craig said: “There was an incident that put you off time at the beginning, I don’t know if you got your shoes stuck. It wasn’t brilliant.”

Darcey said: “Forget what Craig was saying, that was a full routine. It was extraordinary. There’s 100% going on a lot of the time.”

Score: 28

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